The authors have substantially updated the material on relational and PC database management systems (DBMS) for this third edition of their introductory text on database management. They have also added sections on the object-oriented approach and on distributed databases. The new edition places particular emphasis on the role of database management and data modeling in strategic planning within large organizations. The text is divided into five parts--database concepts for management, database planning and conceptual design, physical design and data administration, classical systems (hierarchical and network DBMSs), and relational and distributed systems. The book is aimed at business students rather than computer science students. It looks at database technology from the viewpoint of the user rather than the developer.
As a computer scientist more used to the conventional approach to teaching database technology, I sometimes found the order of presentation and grouping of topics unusual. For example, Part 3, “Physical Design and Data Administration,” begins with a two-page case study on Apple Computer headed “Database Concurrency Control,” but the case study makes no reference, even in general terms, to the sort of issues one would normally expect to be discussed under such a heading, such as transactions and locking. Indeed, locking is not mentioned until 350 pages later in the final part of the book, as part of the discussion on programming relational systems.
The book ends with a brief discussion of distributed DBMSs, database machines, and intelligent DBMSs. These topics are dealt with so sketchily that novice readers might have difficulty in grasping some of the ideas.
On the plus side, the book is easy to read with lots of examples, diagrams, and excellent case studies. It provides comprehensive coverage of the database field, placing emphasis throughout on the importance of database technology to strategic planning, which is particularly refreshing. Given the relaxed tutorial style of the book, which makes it potentially useful as a self-instruction course, it is a pity that the authors did not provide solutions to their end-of-chapter exercises.
